ana date back some 10,000 years and show twisted hemp strands being used in the making of patters on clay pots. The ancient Chinese wove clothes, shoes and rope from hemp fibers, and produced the first paper from it. In the second millennium BC, "a Chinese medical compendium described marijuana as an agent for achieving euphoria"1. Cannabis has a 5,000-year history of therapeutic use, and not one case of accidental overdose. This proves that marijuana is far from a killer drug like the others it is grouped with. By the time of Christ it was used for pain relief, fever reduction, surgery, and as an appetite stimulant. It was also used in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, bronchitis, migraine headaches, insomnia, and many neurological diseases. Countries such as India and China both recognized it as a very effective and versatile medicine.
             Marijuana and hemp cultivation and use continued into modern times, as several of our founding fathers cultivated and possibly used marijuana. Hemp was a vital part of our country's resources and was instrumental to our success as a nation in many ways. "Hemp paper was used in early drafts of the Declaration of Independence, and hemp ropes kept generations of American ships sailing the Seven Seas. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both cultivated hemp on their plantations without any sort of problems or devastating effects." In fact the hemp they grew on their plantations was probably used in many ways, as it is such a versatile plant. It remains a versatile plant today as it can be used or made into "paper, auto parts, textiles, and oils."2 Hemp by nature is seriously different from marijuana. It has been confused with the high producing drug, marijuana for years, which has reduced its credibility. In truth, one could smoke nearly an ounce of hemp and not feel anything like the high one would get from one gram of marijuana. Hemp is an all-natural, environmentally safe mat...